


Hank's Temporary Assistant

by ThePeaceluffer



Series: Eliza [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Added some pathways to the original story, Choose Your Own Adventure, F/M, Father-Son Relationship, How Do I Tag, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Machine or Deviant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Several Deaths Possible, Slow Build, Suicide Attempt, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-05-28 12:16:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 14,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15048827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePeaceluffer/pseuds/ThePeaceluffer
Summary: Rated Mature due to conversation material and described scenes. Sex is reserved for any bonus epilogue chapters I may write.During the interrogation, what if Hank had gone to stand close to Connor when the android starts self-destructing. What if Ortiz' android shot Hank instead. Hank would be unable to continue the investigation on his own.Thankfully, his wounds aren't severe enough to keep him bedridden.Thankfully, he has some old connections who provide him with a temporary assistant, which allows Hank to continue the investigation. Not that he's very happy about it, but he'd rather continue the investigation than being stuck at home with this stranger android.The android itself is rather peculiar. An original female PM700 police android released 9 years ago. The original model is known for its aggressive protection of the cop it was working under and for its ability to chase and take down criminals. What was a model like that doing here, taking care of people...





	1. Factual Info

Introduction

 

Hi, thank you for picking up this little project of mine. Considering the game's style, I've decided to write a fanfiction in a similar choose-your-own-adventure style. In this story, I explored what would happen if Hank got shot during The Interrogation rather than Connor and he would be forced to have an assistant to be able to work on the force. This assistant will be my own character, Eliza. Like the game, I've tried to incorporate things like unlockable options and relationships.

 

Disclaimers

  * As this story starts at 'The interrogation' quite some material will be used from the game itself. I want to clarify that direct quotes from the game are used because they also make sense to me and I see no reason to alter them if there's nothing that should alter them, as well as give all the possibilities to alter certain stats and gain information. The story focuses on the introduction of 1 extra character who simply won't have much impact at the start. This, of course, means there'll be major spoilers for the game if you haven't finished it. If you see this as nothing but a weak copy of the original game, that's fine by me.
  * Not all of the choices from the original game will be incorporated. I've mainly omitted choices that don't have any different outcome anyways and have practically zero effect on the situation at hand. If you find that I've missed a choice from the original game which you feel should definitely be incorporated, feel free to comment below and I'll take it into consideration.
  * It is obviously your own responsibility to keep track of what happens as you read the story. Of course, I realise that few of you will stay true to whatever choices you make. I understand that it's very easy to just read everything anyways before you 'choose' what to go with. It's something I would do and I won't fault anyone for doing so. I simply made a fic like this because I found it fitting and so I myself could explore how this would work out depending on how you play Connor.
  * Over time, as I write these chapters, I might realise that something I did in a previous chapter is no longer fitting with what I want to write. It might be that I rewrite an old chapter to make a new one fit into the story. If this happens, I will state in the starting notes of the new chapter which chapter I have changed. Of course, I will not do so if I just fix spelling and grammatical errors.



 

Character

This story will follow RK800 'Connor' and focus on his reactions to situations and the people around him. Kara will be largely ignored while Markus will be controlled using general decisions. This is done to simplify this book.

 

 

Story Progression

Like DETROIT, this book will be a choose-your-own-adventure. Once an important decision is reached you will be given a choice. Whatever you choose will tell you where you should go. If your actions have immediate causes on relationships or finding info, this will be stated at the start of the next chapter. An example is given below. Keep in mind that these examples are not taken from actual chapters.

 

"We can either go left or right." Hank stated.

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
**Decide:**

"Left" Continue to No. 2  
"Right" Continue to No. 3  
\---------------------------------------------------------------

 

Some choices have little impact on the story. These do not end chapters but appear similar to the example above. The difference being you should continue the story by reading the paragraph in the same style as the choice. Consequences will be stated at the end of the paragraph. A quick example:

 

"Connor, why did you hit me???" Hank asked, drunk.

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
**Answer:**

_"Harsh"_  
**"Caring"**  
"Fun"  
\---------------------------------------------------------------

_"If I want to continue my mission, I cannot have you drunk all the time. It's time to sober up and continue the investigation." Connor answered, sounding cold and factual._  
_"You and your goddamn 'mission'. Do you ever think about anything else?!" Hank spat back, annoyed. He grabbed his jacket and got up from his bench, ready to stumble home._  
_"Goddamn piece of plastic..." He mumbled as he walked past Connor. Connor simply blinked and followed._  
_[Hank: -0.5]_

**"It's not good for your health to be drinking this much, Lieutenant. It would be best if you went home and got some rest. Or maybe go and pet Sumo for a while. Petting has a positive effect on your mental state, after all. If we have a new case, I will come and notify you." Connor answered calmly. Hank sighed as he got up.**  
**"Yeah, I probably should. I'll see you tomorrow, Connor." He said as he walked past Connor.**  
**"I will follow to make sure you get home safely," Connor stated and Hank sighed again but couldn't help and appreciate the gesture, even if it was probably some standard programme.**  
**[Hank: +0.5]**

"I was wondering how you would react to a slap, considering your current state," Connor said and Hank frowned.  
"Right, so you thought you could get some funny reaction out of hitting a drunk man, huh?" Hank returned. Connor wanted to respond, but Hank got up and beat him to it.  
"You androids are weird..." Hank mumbled as he walked past Connor.  
"I'm sorry if I upset you, Lieutenant. That wasn't my goal." Connor apologised as he followed Hank. Hank dimply made a dismissive motion with his hand.

Soon, the two reached Hank's home and Connor wanted to come inside, but Hank simply pushed him back out.  
"Android free home," Hank stated and slammed the door shut, leaving Connor alone on the porch. Connor was a bit shocked for a second, but turned around and left Hank's home. Not that he would go very far.

 

Keep in mind that the chapters can be quite short as decisions with a larger influence than the example above quickly lead to confusion if left using just different font styles to keep them apart.

Choices given in quotes result in talking, choices given in square brackets result in actions.

 

Information to keep track off

Some events allow you to get to know some information. This information can unlock a future event. Therefore, it's your own responsibility to note down what you've learnt. This doesn't mean you have to summarise every chapter yourself. If some important info was shared, it will be stated at the end of the chapter.

If a choice requires a certain piece of information, the specific piece you need is the choice given. If you obtained the information 'LED' at some point, the choice will be given as:  
"LED" Requires information.

Some information is important enough to unlock pathways. The difference being that most simple information options generally only have an impact as a dialogue option, while unlocked pathways open up whole new chapters for you to go through.

Some events have effects on your relationships.  
Relations follow the following scale:

 

Hostile

| 

Tense/Distant

| 

Neutral

| 

Warm

| 

Friend  
  
---|---|---|---|---  
  
-5

| 

-2

| 

0

| 

2

| 

5  
  
Similar to the game, some can only be unlocked by having a specific relationship status with a character.

Once a certain status has been reached, another level has to be reached before you lose said status. For example, if you reach friend status, you first have to go back down to warm before you lose this status. Some statuses like lovers (This is a Connor/OC, of course it's gonna be an option) require certain relationship levels. To lose this special status, you will have to move away from the status which unlocked the special status, in the same way as stated previously.

Software instability, Connor's personal extra stat, is difficult to keep track off, as it's quite vague, even in the game. I've tried to keep software instability out of the equation by rationalising that some other things like allowing deviants to live, showing human emotion, is 'instable' enough at times and vice versa. For now, I will include it, either saying the instability has gone down or up by a little or a lot. Count them as a 1 or 2, either negative or positive.


	2. No. 0: The Interrogation

**November 6th, 12:45AM**

Hank: Neutral (0)  
Software instability: ???

Connor was sitting in front of the HK400 model him and Lieutenant Hank had detained earlier that evening. Connor had been given a shot at questioning the silent model. He knew he shouldn't stress the android out too much, meaning he couldn't go full bad cop. Going full good cop would likely never result in a confession. Of course, Connor could simply try a mixture of the two depending on the android's stress signals, or he could just probe its memory and be done with it. The latter had never given him any trouble before, so he decided to just go with it and probed the HK400's memory, not noticing it's screams as he read its memory. Connor could see just how fierce this deviant had been as it stabbed its previous owner after its owner had started beating it up with a baseball bat. After having obtained the evidence, Connor let go and got up to leave the room, but soon the deviant behind him started banging its head violently against the steel table it was chained to. Connor could hear the detectives in the other room talk before they all rushed into the small room, not sure what to do. Gavin quickly pushed the police officer, Chris, towards the self-destructing robot.  
"Stop it goddammit!" He shouted as he tried to keep the robot from destroying its head.  
"I...I can't stop it!" He shouted.  
"That's enough! You need to stop that right now!" Connor told him. He knew he had caused the deviant to destroy itself, but he also knew that this wasn't working. Chris then quickly pulled out his key and went to open the cuffs of the android. Hank had moved closer to Connor by now, having no idea what the fuck was going on. The moment the android was released, it got up, grabbed Chris's gun, shot at the two partners and then through his own head. It happened in a second and it took Connor a second to take it all in as he saw the android collapse onto the ground.  
"Oh fuck..." He heard Hank softly grunt beside him as he slowly slid onto the ground, against the wall. Connor looked down and saw him clutch his abdomen where his clothes become redder and redder. He had been shot.  
"Lieutenant!" Connor shouted as he bent down and inspected the wound.  
"Oh goddammit. Hey! We need a doctor in here! Lieutenant down!" Gavin shouted as he walked out of the room. Connor took this time to investigate the wound and figured explaining what he saw would calm down Hank.  
"You've been in the side of his abdomen. The wound isn't fatal and with medical help on the way, you should recover from it just fine." He explained. Hank sighed in pain.  
"I'm so fucking done with these androids..." He complained as the paramedics arrived and picked him up. Connor apologised to the Lieutenant one last time before they left. He was allowed to follow them.

An hour later, Hank was already finished with necessary surgery. The bullet hadn't hit any vitals and they simply had to remove it from his gut and sow him up. He was currently set in a hospital bed, waiting for the doctor to allow him to go home.  
"I didn't know probing its memory would cause this. Usually, androids barely seem to notice when I do so." Connor explained.  
"It's fine, Connor. Can you just please leave me alone? It's 2 AM and I dunno 'bout you androids but humans need sleep." Hank told him, annoyed.  
"Right, sorry lieutenant. I'll be silent." Connor replied.  
"Good," Hank said as he got more comfortable and closed his eyes. Within two minutes, the doctor walked in. Hank groaned and got back up again. Connor helped him to make sure he didn't put too much stress on his stitches.  
"Good evening, gentlemen." The old man said.  
"Well, what's the verdict doc?" Hank asked.  
"You'll be happy to know you're free to leave. We don't know yet how long the stitched will have to stay, but you can expect it to take at least 2 weeks. Be careful not to pull them and don't get them wet. Next week we'd like to schedule an appointment for a quick checkup, make sure everything's healing properly. Is this your android, sir?" The doctor asked.  
"Well, no-" Connor started, but Hank signed him to be silent.  
"Yeah, why?" Hank continued. He wasn't gonna have Connors bullshit right now. He wanted to go home and go the fuck to bed already.  
"It would be better if you try and avoid walking. The wound may not be fatal, but it's deep and can be opened if you walk too much." The doctor explained.  
"So I should have my android do everything for me then?" Hank asked, smugly smiling at Connor, who opened and closed his mouth as he tried to say something.  
"Bu- " He got out before the doctor started talking again.  
"If possible, yes." The doctor said.  
"You heard him, Connor. I shouldn't be walking." Hank told Connor, who was just at a loss for words at this point. He simply couldn't become the lieutenant's little worker, not with the investigation still going.  
"Will you be able to get home? You got here by ambulance." The doctor asked.  
"Yeah, I'll call up a colleague of mine. One of those assholes bound to be able to get me home. One thing though, does this mean I can't drive a car either? I have a more classic model, can't drive itself, you see." Hank asked. The doctor made some conflicted expressions.  
"Preferably not, but if you have to leave the house and you drive carefully, it should be fine. Just be careful." The doctor repeated. "You're free to get dressed and leave. Make sure you let the receptionist know you're leaving." The doctor said before leaving the room. Hank thanked the man and grabbed his phone to call up one of his colleagues. The two would be picked up in half an hour, giving Hank some time to order Connor to help him with his clothes. He could already feel that bending over wasn't exactly comfortable with  
"You know, maybe it's not so bad to have you here with me," Hank said.

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
**Respond:**

 _"Investigation"_  
**"Help"**  
\---------------------------------------------------------------

 _"Lieutenant, I hope you realise that I cannot deviate from the investigation to help you at home. I have to focus on my mission, so if you're unable to work with, I will have to ask for a new partner." Connor told Hank, reminding the old man that Connor was not his android, but Cyberlife's. Hank sighed in annoyance._  
_"Yeah, yeah. Look, the doc never said anything about not going to work, he just said I shouldn't strain myself. Usually, the work of a detective doesn't involve too much running. If a deviant runs off, I'm sure you'll go fetch him like the loyal little dog you are." Hank said mockingly._  
_"I am not a dog, I am a state-of-the-art..." Connor stated._  
_"It's a figure of speech, dumbass..." Hank added, cutting him off._  
_"Oh," Connor said and looked away._  
_[Hank: -0.5]_

 **"Lieutenant, will you be alright on your own? I won't be able to take care of you, because I have to focus on the investigation. Do you have anyone who could take care of you while I'm gone?" Connor asked. Hank looked up in surprise.**  
**"First of all, the doc never said anything about not coming to work at all. As long as I don't have to do something like running after someone, I should be fine. But yes, I have some backup." Hank answered. He didn't seem positive about this 'back up'.**  
**"Might I ask who this backup is? You don't seem very happy about it." Connor added. Hank sighed.**  
**"I helped this old couple with their case a little over 2 years ago. It was...rather nasty. Their daughter was found dead in an alley when she went home for work. The other detectives didn't care too much about it, just another robbery in the dark, but I..." Hank went silent for a second. He seemed worked up about it. "I just kept going and ended up finding the culprit. He's in jail now and the parents can rest easy. For my effort, they promised they would send me help if I got into a situation like this." Hank explained.**  
**"Send you help?" Connor continued to question.**  
**"Yeah, the guy is a retired mechanic for Cyberlife and his hobby is to take broken or abandoned androids, fix them if necessary and then give them a new home to people who can't afford their own Android, but need it nonetheless," Hank explained.**  
**"Huh, that's very kind of them," Connor commented.**  
**"Yeah, they're real sweethearts," Hank said.**  
**[Hank: +0.5]**  
**[Info obtained: The Old Couple]**

"In any case, I will be picked up in about 10 minutes," Hank said as he finished getting dressed and sighed as he relaxed in his temporary wheelchair. "Can you be a good little robot and push me to that receptionist so we can get out of here?" Hank asked.  
"Of course, Lieutenant." Connor obeyed and pushed Hank towards the secretary android behind the desk, managing some files in the hospital's system. They deregistered and were standing outside within a few minutes. It was cold outside since it was November, but thankfully it didn't snow too much at the moment. The two stood dry near the entrance, Hank sipping away at a hot coffee.  
"You know, lieutenant, you shouldn't drink caffeine-containing drinks before going to bed," Connor told him. Hank sighed in annoyance again.  
"Yeah, but I also don’t wanna freeze up," Hank responded.  
"You could've gotten a cup of tea instead, or even hot chocolate, though the hot chocolate from the machines here contains way too much sugar..." Connor continued.  
"Don't like tea. Don't want hot chocolate." Hank responded.  
"If you're freezing, we could also wait inside," Connor added.  
"And you could also shut the fuck up and let me drink my damn coffee peace. Look, there they are." Hank ended their conversation as he pointed at the car stopping in front of them. Connor helped Hank inside the car before the two exchanged goodbyes and Connor headed back to his storage unit Cyberlife provided him in the android warehouse nearby. He was wondering how their investigation would continue, now that his partner was confined to a wheelchair for the foreseeable future.

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
**Continue to No. 1**


	3. No. 1: PM700

**November 6th, 10:00AM**

PM700: Neutral (0)

The following day, Connor arrived before Hank. Hank's colleague wasn't too helpful, as the lieutenants arrival times were apparently quite prone to change. All he knew for sure was that he probably wouldn't arrive for another hour or two. It reminded him of his conversation with Amanda in the Zen garden, earlier that day, when he told Amanda he would try to adapt to the lieutenants personality so they could become better partners and work on the investigation more efficiently. However, him arriving so late and having such an attitude towards his work wasn't very helpful for the investigation. With time to kill, Connor decided it would be helpful if he explored his new office a bit, maybe meet some of his new colleagues. Though maybe he should wait on the lieutenant to arrive. Connor knew very well that humans generally didn't like his presence, but these people were used to having androids around, so it might be different...

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
 **Decide:**

_[Explore Hank's desk]_  
 **[Wait on Hank] No added text**  
\---------------------------------------------------------------

_Connor decided it would be useful to explore Hank's desk. He analysed the whole working space and found out he has a Saint Bernard, that he's a decorated officer thanks to his work against red ice, that he likes listening to some heavy metal band called Knights of the Black Death and that he likes basketball. Besides that, he saw that the desk was a mess with a large stack of paper and not one, but two old boxes of doughnuts with an old doughnut visible in the top box. There was also a mug with some old, cold coffee and a dead tree, a Japanese maple. Another thing he noticed was a bunch of anti-android clippings on his board, but also a photo of him and the Red Ice Task Force with 'real police' written on it using a black permanent marker._   
_[Info obtained: Dog, Knights of the Black Death, Basketball, Anti-android]_

Thankfully, it didn't take as long as anticipated and Hank arrived only half an hour after he arrived.  
"Good morning, Lieutenant." Connor cheerily greeted the man rolling towards him in his wheelchair.  
"Oh Jesus..." Anderson sighed as he saw Connor, rolling his eyes and sighing. "Don't tell me I'm gonna have you following me around all day as well." He said, irritated.  
"What do you mean, as well?" Connor asked when another android entered the precinct. A female android, wearing a standard issue android dress, though without the android's model type on the front. She looked around until she found Hank and walked towards them.  
"Hank, you shouldn’t be leaving on your own." She said sternly. This particular model had long brown hair in a ponytail and light blue-greyish eyes. Connor tried to scan it, but the serial number was damaged. He did find out that it was a PM700 droid, one of the originals dispatched back in 1929. It was rare to still find one, let alone one caring for an old man instead of hunting down targets, which the original PM700 and PC200 model excelled at before it was 'reimagined' to take up the role of the policeman rather than the police dog. However, Connor could see that very few of her parts belonged to the original model. She must've gone through several updates.  
"And I don't need a goddamn nanny. I already have another android to deal with here, can't you just stay at my place or something? Clean?" Hank asked the droid.  
"Hank, I was tasked to keep you in check and that's exactly what I intend to do. I've been informed that you were of great help the Richard and Marie and I don't intend to disappoint them by being careless with your care. So I would appreciate it if you didn't just roll away while I'm getting a clearance code for the next time I'm visiting the precinct with you." The android nagged at Hank. Hank rolled his eyes and faced Connor.  
"Connor, meet Eliza. She will be my 'assistant' until the doctor gets rid of these stitches.  
"It's nice to meet you, Eliza. My name is Connor. I am the android sent by Cyberlife." Connor greeted Eliza.  
"It's nice to meet you too, detective." Eliza returned.  
"Good, now that we're all buddy-buddy, can you explain what you're still doing here?" Hank asked Connor, who got confused by the question. Didn't Hank know he was assigned all the android cases with him?  
"Hank, stop bitching with your androids and get your ass in here!" The fat black man shouted. Hank sighed and rolled towards the man's office, but to get there he had to get up a small set of stairs. The PM700 walked towards Hank and lifted the man from his wheelchair into the office. Connor could hear the officers around him snicker as they saw Hank being handled like this.

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
 **Decide:**

[Join Hank] Continue to No. 2  
[Explore the office] Continue to No. 3  
\---------------------------------------------------------------


	4. No. 2: Join Hank

Connor decided it would be best to join Hank in the office, which appeared to belong to the chief of this police department. He followed Hank and the new android into the office and closed the door behind him. Eliza had placed Hank in the chair on the other side of the Chief's desk before standing in the back of the room. Connor joined her and smiled politely. She responded with the same before the two focused on the scene of two shouting men in front of them. It came down to Hank not wanting to work with androids because he hated them and captain Fowler wanted him to just shut up and do his job 'for once'. Fowler explained that Connor was to act as his partner, to which Hank retaliated with the fact that he already had another android on his ass thanks to the incident the previous night. At one point, Fowler was sick of Hank's nagging and gave him a final decision.  
"Alright Hank, you know what? You can either go home and get heal from that wound, which is understandable, or you work with these androids to help fix this deviant issue, otherwise, you can just hand me your badge right now and never show your face again." He shouted. Hanks mumbled angrily before sighing.  
"Alright, fine. It's better than being stuck in a house with a plastic doll telling me how to live my life." Hank decided, insulting Eliza in the progress. Connor noticed that the android rolled her eyes before she picked Hank back up and got him in his wheelchair again. He also thought it would be appropriate to say something to the captain.  
"Captain, I would like you to know I'm very happy to be part of this tea-"  
"Shut the door when you leave." The captain cut him off. Connor blinked before quickly following the other two back to Hank's desk.

"Be a good doll and get me a cup of coffee, will ya?" Hank rudely asked the PM700 android after she set him behind his desk and handed her his mug with cold coffee.  
"Sure. I'll give the mug a wash before I refill it." She stated and walked towards the lounge area. It then got quiet as Hank sulked in his chair and Connor struggled with what to say next. His thought process was quickly interrupted by a loud banging noise coming from the lounge area. Both Hank and Connor reacted to it and heard an angry voice.  
"Listen here, you plastic bitch. When a human gives you an order, you obey. Got it?" They heard it talk. Connor quickly recognised it as Gavin, the android hating detective from last night. Connor figured the man had a tendency for violence and considering the context of his sentence, Hank's assistant was probably in trouble.  
"Connor, go have a look and make sure Gavin doesn't fuck her up." Hank told Connor, visibly annoyed with all this bullshit happening around him.  
"On it." Connor said as he made his way to the lounge and found Gavin aggressively holding Eliza against the office's fridge. He had quite a strong hold on her neck it seemed, but the android was staring at him with no sign of fear. If anything, she just seemed to return his aggressive gaze.

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
**Get between them:**

_"Neutral"_  
**"Firm"**  
[Get between them]  
\---------------------------------------------------------------

_"Could one of you maybe explain this situation?" Connor asked, trying to get info on what caused the dispute. Gavin simply looked over his shoulder and faked a smile once he saw who was interrupting him._   
_"Nothing of your concern, just making a piece of plastic remember it's place." He calmly explained when he looked back at the female android in his grip. He squeezed harder when he said the last part. Eliza made a noise and a troubled face. Connor knew it wasn't very comfortable to be held by your neck. Androids have simulated breathing, plus their vocal systems rely on sound waves being pushed out via air. The latter meant she couldn't react._   
_"It would be advisable to let go of that android, detective, unless you wish to pay for repairs." Connor continued. Gavin groaned, but let her go regardless, giving a painfully fake smile once again as he faced Connor. She only got to rub her throat for a second before Gavin turned around and punched her right in the gut. She made a small noise once again before she slid down against the fridge._   
_"Both of you should stay the fuck out of my way, or next time Hank is gonna have to order himself some new friends." Gavin threatened before he left the lounge._

**"Detective Gavin, I'm going to have to ask you to let go of Lieutenant Anderson's temporary assistant, or else I will have to file a report against you." Connor firmly told the detective. Gavin then noticed Connor's presence and gave a fake smile as he let go of the Android and held up his hands in fake innocence. Eliza rubbed her neck out of reflex as she gave Connor a thankful nod.**   
**"There's no problem here. Just trying to help this piece of plastic remember her place." Gavin explained himself, giving the female android another hateful stare.**   
**"Well, this piece of plastic very much remembered her place as a temporary aid for those who need it. I didn't think you needed such help, but now I see that your problem might be invisible." She calmly said. Gavin looked back at the android, quickly radiating a violent aura.**   
**"Did you just call me retarded?" He asked her in a forced calm voice. The android didn't reply, she simply kept her neutral expression as she kept her gaze locked with his. Connor flickered his gaze between the two as he realised that Eliza had actually meant that to be an insult. He hadn't been around for that long, but this was the first time he saw an android openly insult someone. The situation she chose to insult wasn't the best either, as Connor could compare the situation to throwing a can of gasoline onto a fire. This was definitely not good. He wanted to try and stop Gavin, but the detective already moved to the Android and gave her a strong punch straight into her stomach. As she was backed up against the fridge, Connor figured the blow must've been harsh as he saw her bend down onto the floor with a shocked expression, but she was quickly pulled back up by her ponytail to meet Gavin face to face, practically lifting her off of the floor.**   
**"Listen here, you little shit. Next time you insult me like that, Hank can go get himself a new little assistant." He said before letting her go. She slid against the fridge onto the floor as he walked away, making sure to run his shoulder into Connor as he left the lounge area.**   
**[Eliza: +0.5]**   
**[Info obtained: Eliza's Insult]**

Without thinking, Connor immediately stepped between the two, pushing Gavin off of Eliza.   
"Detective Gavin, it would be advisable if you didn't try to harm the lieutenant's temporary assistant." He firmly told Gavin and looked him straight in the eyes. Gavin snorted and gave an amused smile.   
"Look at that, plastic detective to the rescue. Did you come to save the damsel in distress?" Gavin mockingly asked Connor.   
"Yes," Connor answered, not picking up on the mockery he was given. Gavin squinted his eyes in a quick confusion. He then growled and punched Connor in the gut. The shock went through him and he got pushed back against the female android who tried to help him stay upright, but he was forced to bend down to the ground anyways as he felt his thirium pump reset. The android behind him stepped in front of Connor now and wanted to shout something at Gavin, but she received punch which was clearly much harder as she made a confused face and made pained moans as she went down to the ground. Connor got back up as Gavin started talking.   
"The two of you better stay the fuck out of my way, otherwise Hank is gonna have to order some new friends." He threatened them before walking away. Eliza hadn't gotten back up yet.   
[Eliza: +1]

Connor then quickly walked to the android on the ground and helped her back up.  
"Are you alright?" Connor asked.  
"I'm fine. His punch just distorted the thirium flow in my system, but it's back to normal already." Eliza said and smiled at him.  
"What happened between the two of you?" Connor asked as Eliza finally turned on the machine to make Hank his cup of coffee.  
"I went to get a cup of coffee, then that man started insulting me from the back as well as Hank. Things about him being too old for this and that he couldn't believe the man got another android into the precinct. He then walked to me and asked about my model and such. I ignored him, but then he ordered me to get him a cup of coffee. Of course, I refused, telling him that I only take orders from the lieutenant and that he should tell Hank if he wanted me to do something for him. He then flipped, grabbed me by the throat and pushed me against the fridge and started threatening me." She quickly explained.  
"I see. That was detective Gavin. He doesn't seem to like androids very much. I can't say if he hates androids more than lieutenant Anderson, but he is definitely more open about it." Connor explained in return.  
"Obviously..." Eliza commented as she took the mug filled with fresh, hot coffee. "In any case, thanks for intervening. I wasn't gonna let him have his way, but I may not have walked away with just a distorted thirium flow." She thanked him before they walked back to Hank.

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
 **Continue to No. 4**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eliza be a fierce lady.


	5. No. 3: Explore the Office

Connor decided it wasn't necessary for him to be present during the meeting. He already knew it was about Hank being assigned all the android cases until this deviancy problem was solved. After all, the lieutenant didn't know yet that he was assigned these cases. Instead, Connor felt it would be better to explore his new workplace. It wouldn’t harm to know what this place could handle and provide.

He first walked to the cells and interrogation halls. He was able to walk into both interrogation halls just fine. One was occupied, the other, the one they had used the night before, was empty. Connor saw that Hank's blood had been cleaned, but the android's blue blood had been allowed to vaporise and he could see the stains on the table and the floor, where the android had violently bashed his head before shooting himself. Of the two cells, only one was occupied with a sketchy looking black man. He wore a black jacket with a fluffy hood and a cap. Once the man realised Connor was watching him, he got up and started shouting at Connor.  
"The fuck you looking at?" He aggressively asked. Connor quickly looked away and walked back to the centre area of the precinct, not wanting to get himself into unnecessary trouble. He then saw a door leading to the evidence room and Connor wanted to see if they already had some evidence from deviant cases, but only authorised personnel were allowed in and he knew he wasn't given authorisation. He sighed as he walked back. Only now he noticed that Hank wasn't taking his new job too lightly. The two older men were shouting loud enough for the whole precinct to hear. Connor looked around and saw some of his new colleagues look at the glass office in the middle. Some laughed softly, some rolled their eyes, some just ignored it. Connor deduced that this wasn't an uncommon thing to happen. As he looked around for something new to explore, he saw the lounge area and walked towards it, wondering what kind of appliances they made available for the working force. It was practically a small kitchen with a bunch of drawers, a large fridge, a microwave, a vending machine and, of course, a coffee machine.  
"Fuck, look at that... Our friend the plastic detective is back in town." Connor heard behind him. Then he heard clapping as the voice, which he recognised as detective Reed, continued.  
"Congratulations on last night, very impressive!" He said before Connor turned around and saw that he was with someone he didn't know yet, so he decided to introduce himself.  
"Hello, my name is Connor." He politely introduced himself. Gavin then slowly walked towards him, eyeing him all over.  
"Never seen an android like you before. What model are you?" He asked quite calmly compared to what Connor was used to from him.

\--------------------------------------------------------------  
 **Answer:**

_"Answer"_  
 **"Refuse"**  
\---------------------------------------------------------------

_"RK800. I'm a prototype." Connor answered once again._   
_"A prototype?" Gavin mocked. He then continued with his mockery as he turned around towards his colleague and said, "Android detective." accompanied by some theatrical hand movements. Connor did not pick up on this and smiled at the female colleague. Gavin then turned back._   
_"So machines are gonna replace us all is that it?" He asked, but didn't give Connor time to answer._

**"I'm sorry, but I'm not authorised to answer you," Connor responded. He knew he had nothing to do with Gavin and figured having him around during their investigation would only cause trouble.**   
**"If you have any questions, please contact your superior," Connor added. He might not want Gavin around, but he didn't want too much hostility either. Gavin gave a scowl as he turned to his colleague and moved his arm to signify 'can you believe this shit?'. He then turned back to Connor.**

"Hey, bring me a coffee, dipshit." He harshly told Connor. Connor frowned. He was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to take orders from anyone other than lieutenant Anderson and his superiors. When Gavin felt he was taking too long, he got impatient and shouted, "Get a move on!"

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
 **Decide:**

_[Accept]_  
 **"Refuse"**  
\---------------------------------------------------------------

Connor thought that maybe he should listen to detective Reed as well. He preferred staying on good terms with the police force in case he needed help in the future. Not that he felt like detective Reed would ever be of any use in this investigation since he would probably work against it, considering his aggressive hatred towards androids. At least Hank's hatred was more internal. So Connor turned around and turned on the coffee machine. He heard Gavin snicker behind him as he pressed the button on the machine. He had already analysed that Gavin's previous coffee was black, so he figured he'd go with the same. The machine was done in a few seconds and Connor turned back around and silently offered him the fresh cup of coffee. Gavin pushed the coffee and came closer.  
"Do yourself a favour," He whispered. He then harshly pressed his finger against Connor's chest. "stay out of my way." He said as he turned around and left the area, his colleague following close behind. Connor got confused. The detective had asked him for a cup of coffee and now he wasn't taking it. He tried to reach out again, but Gavin was already gone. Connor didn't know what to do with the coffee. He didn't drink it, he couldn't drink it. He figured it would be better to just leave it be and he put it on the table.  
[Info obtained: Gavin's order]

Connor knew he was only supposed to accept orders from the lieutenant, so he knew he, by no means, had to listen to detective Reed.  
"I'm sorry, but I only take orders from lieutenant Anderson." Connor refused explained.  
"Oh, oh." Gavin responded as he stepped back. Connor gave a small nod as he looked at his colleague, hoping she got the message as well. This, however, meant that he wasn't ready to block Gavin, who suddenly punched him straight into his gut. Connor instinctively put his hand on the hit area as he felt that his body forced him to get down to the ground. His thirium flow had been disrupted and the pump was resetting itself. He held himself up by putting a hand on the ground.  
"If Hank hadn't been shot yesterday, I would've fucked you up for disobeying my order!" Gavin threatened. He then bent down to try and drive it home.  
"Stay out of my way, because next time you won't get off so easy." He threatened before standing up again and slapping Connor against his head. Gavin and his colleague then left the lounge. Connor got back up and took a second to fix his suit.

Connor figured there wasn't much more to look at here. He turned around and saw that Hank and Eliza were back at his desk, so he figured he should walk back. Hank did not seem happy.  
"Be a good plastic doll and get a cup of coffee," Hank ordered Eliza and handed her his mug, filled with old coffee.  
"Alright. I'll give this a wash before I refill it." She answered and walked past Connor towards the lounge. Eliza got back to them in about half a minute and put the cup of coffee next to Hank, who nodded at her as a thank you.

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
 **Continue to No. 4**


	6. No. 4: Smalltalk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor's glorious small talk and Hank's inability to deal with Android BS.  
> This is probably the most 'copied' chapter in this whole ordeal. After this, Eliza will have a larger influence and the story will start to deviate more.

The three of them were now back at Hank's desk. Eliza simply looked around as she stood a foot away from the detective, awaiting his next order. Connor was now in an awkward position as he stood next to the sulking lieutenant, wondering what he could say. He seemed rather unhappy about his new assignment and Connor felt responsible. The anti-android slogans on his desk didn't help his position.  
"I get the impression my presence causes you some inconvenience, lieutenant. I'd like you to know I'm very sorry about that." Connor apologised. Hank stayed silent as he slightly moved his head around in annoyance.  
"Now that we're partners, it would be great to get to know each other better," Connor suggested and smiled, but Hank still wouldn't respond and Connor's smile faltered as he became more unsure of what to do. In a last attempt, he just wanted to stay positive. A positive relationship with the lieutenant would be beneficial to the investigation after all.  
"In any case, I'd like you to know I'm very happy to be working with you," Connor said, trying to sound excited. Hank simply continued his silent treatment and Connor figured there was no use in trying to talk with him, so he got down to business.  
"Is there a desk I can use?" Connor asked.  
"No one's using that one," Hank said as he pointed to the one opposite to him. Connor nodded and went to sit down. Eliza had simply ignored the whole ordeal and was still looking around the precinct. Hank sighed and turned to look at her.  
"Do you have to stand there behind me?" Hank asked her.  
"Not necessarily, but I didn't know where else I should go," Eliza responded.  
"Don't you have anything to do?" Hank continued.  
"Of course not. What is an android like me supposed to do at a police department besides taking care of you when you need assistance." Eliza asked in return. Hank sighed again.  
"Right..." Hank returned

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
**Decide:**

_"Model"_  
**[Stay silent]**  
\---------------------------------------------------------------

_"Well, you are an old PM700 model. You were active in the police force at some point." Connor mentioned. He saw Eliza's LED flicker yellow for a second. Hank eyed Eliza._  
_"I knew I recognised you from somewhere... So you used to work here then, huh? Well, you're free to start on some of this shit paperwork." Hank commanded her and pointed at the chair beside him._  
_"I'm afraid that I cannot do that. I have no authorisation to work on police documents. The functions I do have are more relevant for field work, facial and fingerprint recognition, for example. But if you would rather have me sit down instead of stand beside you, that is no problem." Eliza explained as she sat down._  
_"No authorisation to work on paperwork? I dunno how old you are, but for the past couple of years, that's all the police androids are used for when they're not out to chase a suspect or out on patrol. At least they can finish their paperwork in a few minutes..." Hank complained jealously. Eliza's LED went yellow again as she thought of a reply._  
_"Indeed. We were there to work on mundane paperwork about patrols and taking down suspects. We were never allowed to work on the paperwork of an actual investigation." Eliza replied. Her LED had gone back to a stable blue._  
_"Fucking of course... I get an extra police android and it's not doing me any good either..." Hank complained. Connor had stayed silent as the two talked. He felt he shouldn't interfere in this conversation, as he didn't have more information about Eliza. However, he knew that what she just said was partially a lie._  
_"The model from back in 1929 did not have any authorisation to do any paperwork at all. They were only there to accompany the human police officers and provide immediate backup." Connor added, considering she talked about doing paperwork. Eliza then fell quiet as she looked away, her LED turning yellow for a third time, likely because he had caught her lying. Connor was confused as to why she was lying about her functions. She had no reason to as far as he knew. All he could think off was that it could have to do with the fact that she had gone from being a police android to a temporary assistant for those needing it._  
_[Info obtained: Yellow LED]_

**Connor decided he had no authorisation to get between the two. Considering how old her model was and the fact that she was working an entirely different function compared to her original one probably meant that her being a police android was not gonna work in their favour. At least not during investigations or while doing paperwork.**  
**"I could sit down if you'd rather not have me stand behind you." Eliza opted.**  
**"Yeah, do that." Hank allowed and she sat down in the extra chair beside Hank's desk.**

Hank passed her a piece of paper and a pencil.  
"Here, draw that tree or something." He said as he pointed at the Japanese maple on his desk. Eliza simply did as told and started drawing, meaning the detectives could start their work. Hank was now finally working, using his terminal as Eliza quietly scribbled on the piece of paper. Connor figured he should try to socialise with the lieutenant a bit more.

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
**What to say: (Choose how many you like)**

_"Dog" Requires info_  
**"Knights of the Black Death" Requires info**  
"Basketball" Requires info  
_**"Anti-android" Requires info**_  
\---------------------------------------------------------------

_"You have a dog right?" Connor asked._  
_"How do you know that?" Hank returned, turning his head towards Connor._  
_"The dog hairs on your chair," Connor explained and Hank away for a second. "I like dogs. What's your dog's name?" Connor continued. He sounded almost naïve. Hank looked at Connor in confusion at his tone._  
_"What's it to ya?" He asked, sounding a bit hostile. Connor took it as the lieutenant refusing to answer and turned back to his terminal. Then the lieutenant suddenly answered anyways._  
_"Sumo. I call him Sumo." He said and gave a small smile before going back to work. Connor felt the name was fitting, considering the dog was a Saint Bernard._  
_[Hank: +0.5]_

**"Do you listen to Knights of the Black Death? I really like that music. It's...full of energy." Connor tried. He had never listened to it before.**  
**"You listen to heavy metal?" Hank asked, surprised, but also not really buying it.**  
**"Well, I don't listen to music, as such... But I'd like to." Connor responded. Hank gave him a funny look as he returned to his terminal. Eliza just silently scribbled.**  
**[Hank: +0.5]**

"You're a Detroit Gears fan, right?" Connor tried and Hank gave a small nod, so Connor continued. "Denton Carter scored 53% of his shots from the three-point line yesterday. Did you see the game?" Connor asked.  
"That's what I was watching at the bar last night," Hank told him, annoyed once again. Connor looked away as he remembered that he had taken the captain from the bar to work on an investigation during the game.  
"Oh..." He said, sounding defeated. He barely noticed Eliza's amused smile as she continued scribbling.  
[Hank: -0.5]

_**"A lot of people don't appreciate having androids around. I was wondering, is there any reason, in particular, you despise me?" Connor honestly asked. Eliza had stopped scribbling as she awaited Hank's response as she realised Hank got tense.** _  
_**"Yeah... There is one..." Hank responded and Connor expected him to continue, but he never did. Hank simply sighed in annoyance. Soon after, Eliza's scribbling continued and Connor turned back to his terminal when he realised he pushed a wrong button.** _  
_**[Hank: -0.5]** _

"Have you known captain Fowler for long?" Connor asked.  
"Yeah..." Hank responded as he looked at the black man in his see-through office. "Too long." He added as he turned back to his terminal.  
"I was wondering, do you always arrive at the office at this time?" Connor asked. Hank was visibly offended.  
"I arrive when I arrive. Stop busting my balls, okay? Be happy that this plastic doll didn't stop bugging me to get to work." Hank told him and Connor quickly shut up. He figured he should stop trying to small talk the lieutenant into working on the investigation and figured it was time to get to the point.  
"If you have any files on deviants, I'd like to take a look at them," Connor stated, trying to sound eager to work with the lieutenant.  
"Terminal's on your desk. Knock yourself out." Hank said, sounding annoyed as he pointed out the obvious. Connor nodded as turned to the terminal. He connected to it and scanned all the files within seconds.  
"243 files. First dates back 9 months... It all started in Detroit and quickly spread across the country." Connor stated as Hank moved and leaned with his head on his fist. He did not want to work on these cases.  
"An AX400 is reported to have assaulted a man last night. That could be a good starting point for our investigation." Connor stated. Hank wasn't responding. Connor had about enough of the Lieutenant's attitude and felt like he should set the old man straight.  
"Uh, Jesus..." Hank muttered as Connor walked over to his side and turned around, facing his back to Connor as he picked up a tablet. Connor tried to be professional about this.  
"I know you didn't ask for this investigation, Lieutenant, but I'm sure you're a professional," Connor said.  
"Why don't you go fuck yourself!" Hank aggressively responded. Connor stood silent for a second.  
"Lieutenant, I thought you said working on this investigation was better than sitting at home with nothing but me at your side. It's either this investigation or going home. Your choice." Eliza stated as she kept on scribbling. Hank growled and turned to Connor. He grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him down to come eye to eye with Hank.  
"Listen, asshole, if I could stand up I would throw you around until you're nothing but broken bolts and cables in that plastic husk of yours. If it were up to me, I'd throw the lot of you into the dumpster and set a match to it. So stop pissing me off!" Hank spat in Connor's face. "Or things are gonna get nasty." He added. Eliza stood up and pulled the two apart.  
"Come on now, Hank. You're gonna end up extending my stay if you keep getting worked up like this." Eliza warned Hank.  
"Well then this asshole should stay out of my business," Hank said as he looked at Connor.  
[Hank: -0.5]

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
**What happened to Kara?**

[She escaped Todd] Continue to No. 5  
_[She did not escape Todd]_  
\---------------------------------------------------------------

_Hank then rolled away from his desk towards the exit._  
_"Where are you going, Lieutenant?" Connor asked._  
_"Lunch. Bullshit makes me hungry." Hank stated as he kept going. The two androids couldn't do more than follow him._

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
**Continue to** No. 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the last chapter I made in advance before I started uploading, meaning chapters will now take longer to be published and even longer to be fully finished.


	7. No. 5: AX400

"Lieutenant? Uhm..." Someone said and the three broke their little fight to see Chris, the officer from last night, approach them. The man seemed a bit confused about what was going on. "Sorry to disturb you. I have some information on the AX400 that attacked the guy last night." Chris stated. Hank did not break his gaze with Connor. "It's been seen in the Ravendale district." Chris added.  
"I'm on it," Lieutenant told Chris and turned away from the two androids, wheeling towards the exit. Eliza sighed and quickly followed. Connor blinked before doing the same. He hoped that his relation with Hank hadn't just taken a turn...

Once outside, Connor saw Eliza help Hank into the passenger seat and got into the driver's seat herself. Connor just took a seat in the back. He could already tell that Hank was not very pleased with Eliza driving. He mumbled something incoherent, but definitely negative, when Eliza started the car and drove away.  
"Do you even know where to go?" Hank asked her. She kept her eyes on the road.  
"I'm on route to the Ravendale district. That police officer never gave us the specifics, but I'm sure we'll find some others on the force walking around there." Eliza answered. Hank just sighed and looked out of his window at the scenery chasing by. Connor sat silently. He had some questions he wanted to ask her, but they would arrive at their destination quite soon and he'd rather get it over with in one go. The air in the car was heavy and tense thanks to what happened back at the station and Connor figured this is what one would call an 'uncomfortable silence'. Thankfully, it didn't last too long as Eliza parked the car in front of a 24/7 store. It had started raining by now.

Connor got out and stayed by the car as Eliza went and helped Hank in his wheelchair. Hank then rolled towards the other police officers and got some information. Eliza stayed next to Connor in the pouring rain. Connor never really minded the rain. For the sake of efficiency, he always had some sensors turned off, like temperature and touch beyond feeling pressure. Connor felt like the temperature sensor was almost unnecessary unless he really had to know if something was still warm or not. He felt the same about touch. There were very few situations where he needed to gain information by touching it, rather than scanning it and using available databases. The two sensors only took up processing power, plus it meant that he never cared too much about being soaking wet, or minded his clothes sticking to him. Connor wondered if Eliza had those sensors turned off as well. He looked at her and didn't see any immediate effects rain normally has on people. No frown or sighing. She did look down and pull on the hem of her uniform dress. When she let go, it slapped back against her with a small, wet noise. He figured she was thinking about having to do laundry later.  
"So, do you have any ideas about the situation? Considering you were built for this type of stuff." Eliza asked Connor to break the silence between them. Connor ran through what they knew.  
"It took the first bus that came along and stayed till the end of the line. Its decision wasn't planned, it was driven by fear." Connor told her. Eliza made a frown.  
"Androids don't feel fear." She told him.  
"We don't, but deviants do. They get overwhelmed by these emotions and make irrational decisions. It didn't have a plan and it had nowhere to go, so maybe it didn't go far." Connor told her. Eliza nodded.  
"That sounds plausible. The android that shot Hank also didn't go very far, did he? Who knows, maybe deviants have an instinct to hide when they're afraid, rather than to run." Eliza replied. Connor thought about that for a second.  
"That might actually be a good possibility." He said and gave his new colleague a small smile, which she returned.  
"On the topic of 'you were built for this type of stuff', I know it's not your primary objective to catch criminals anymore, but the original PM700 was practically built for chasing down criminals. Can I trust upon those original functions if we find the suspect and it tries to flee?" Connor asked Eliza. She sighed and had a moment to think about her answer.  
"Look, my primary objective is to take care of Hank and I'm not supposed to leave him alone. I'm also pretty sure that you've already figured out that the limbs and parts I have now do not belong to the original PM700 series. I'm not as strong as I used to be." Eliza explained. Connor figured that was a no and turned his head away. Eliza noticed this.  
"But I can at least run after them." She added and smiled at him.  
"Thanks," Connor said before he noticed Hank motioning him to start his investigation already.  
"I'll stay here on the lookout if you need me," Eliza said as Connor walked away. He gave her a nod before walking around.

The man from the store had seen the AX400 in his store, but they quickly left. He didn't know where they went. The man from the motel had never even seen them. Connor took in his surroundings once more and saw an alley next to an old abandoned house. If the android was smart, it would hide in a discreet place, which is why Connor went to check it out. The fence door closing off the alley was open and he walked in. There were an abandoned car and a kind of generator amongst other bits and pieces of old metal, wood and tires. Connor scanned the area and saw that the fence leading to the abandoned house was cut open at the bottom. Not only that, there were traces of blue blood on it. Considering it was dried up, he couldn't sample it, but he was sure it was from the AX400 they were looking for. What other android would go to this dirty, dank, worn-down space. Before continuing, he figured some backup would come in handy. He made eye contact with Eliza and started calling her telepathically.  
'Could you come and provide me with backup?' He asked her.  
'I already told you I shouldn't be leaving the Hank alone.' She replied.  
'I know, but I'm sure the android is in this house here and some backup will likely prevent it from escaping.' Connor argued.  
'Why not ask another police officer?' She asked in return.  
'Because you won't get tired from running after deviants, humans will.' Connor told her. He saw her sigh.  
'Alright fine. I'm coming.' Eliza agreed and walked towards Connor, who walked back towards the cut open fence and crawled through it.  
"Anybody home?" He shouted as Eliza crawled through the fence after him. When they got no answer, they walked around the house. Eliza pulled Connor back by his sleeve as he walked towards the door. He turned around and saw her hunched over as she looked through a large crack in the wood panelling. She signified him to look through it and so he did. There was an android standing in the middle of the room, wearing a green cloak. Connor then walked towards the door and carefully walked into the building. The android they had seen had horrible blue scarring on the side of his face and seemed nervous. It wasn't the AX400 model they were looking for and considering he couldn't scan the blue blood on the fence, the blood may have come from this android instead. A quick scan told Connor it was a WR600 model, a gardener, which went missing some time ago. The scarring on his face was rather large burn marks. Connor also noticed that the android was stressed and that there was a moderate probability it would self-destruct. The stress, Connor figured, was either because Eliza and he were infiltrating his personal space, or because it was hiding something. Though even if it wasn't they should probably take this android in. It was obviously unstable and probably a deviant.  
"Is there anyone else in this building?" Connor asked the strange android.  
"No... Ralph is alone..." It silently responded. Connor wasn't buying it and started looking around, as did Eliza. The fire was lit, though androids need no heat. The table was decked for three people, but there was only one android here and androids don't need food, to begin with. Besides that, there wasn't much to this place. He walked to towards the staircase and Connor noticed that 'Ralph' got more stressed the closer he got to the stairs. Eliza noticed as well.  
"Connor, I heard something coming from above us." Eliza stated. Connor looked at her and frowned. He hadn't heard anything, but she looked serious. He then turned to Ralph.  
"Is there anybody upstairs?" He asked. Ralph shook his head.

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
 **Decide:**

[Go upstairs] Continue to No. 6  
[Have Eliza go upstairs] Continue to No. 7


	8. No. 6: Go Upstairs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was never fully explained what happened to Ralph, I wanted to try and elaborate on that a little.

"I'll go have a look," Connor said and walked upstairs. There were a few rooms upstairs. Two of which were bedrooms, though all the beds were practically just mattresses. There were broken pieces of wood everywhere, graffiti on the walls and the mattresses themselves were covered in mold. There was also no one here, so he moved to the remaining room, a bathroom. Connor immediately saw the synthetic hair lying in the sink, as well as a loose Android LED. Connor swiftly turned to storm back down, but his eyes met with a horrific corpse in the bathtub. The skin of the old man had completely turned grey. A dark red stream of old blood came out of its mouth and nose as well as the throat of the man, where the victim had been cut. Connor felt his stress level rise as he stared at the man. Thankfully, he was pulled away from the corpse by the sound of something moving downstairs. Connor calmed down and scanned the man before he left the corpse be.  
"Is everything alright down there?" He shouted towards Eliza.  
"Yeah, I just checked below the staircase. I found nothing, you?" Eliza shouted back. Connor sighed and walked back down.  
"No, but I found the Android's hair and LED. It's changed its appearance here, but it must already be gone." Connor stated. He noticed how Ralph's stress levels went down when he said that. Connor then fully faced the murderous Android.  
"However, we will have to take this Android in," Connor said and Ralph jerked his head up towards him, eyes wide in shock.  
"B-but Ralph's done nothing wrong." He defended himself.  
"There's a corpse in the bathroom upstairs, Manny Wilfred. He was your previous owner." Connor accused him. He raised his voice and stood straight, making him seem bigger and more threatening. A standard trick to try and assert dominance. Ralph silently panicked.  
"You killed that man, Ralph. After you went missing, he came to find you and you killed him." Connor added.  
"Ralph had no choice!" Ralph shouted. His stress levels were reaching dangerous levels. Eliza slowly moved closer to Connor.  
"I don't think we should be pushing this guy..." She whispered.  
"Eliza, go get the officers in here." He ordered her in return. Eliza hesitated as she eyed Ralph, but started walking towards the exit anyways. Ralph was whispering 'no' to himself. When Eliza reached the door, Ralph snapped.  
"No...no no no no!" He shouted as he lunged himself at Connor, knife striking down. Connor barely managed to block the knife, but got pushed against some wooden debris and fell down. Ralph then ran towards Eliza, who stood still in shock, knife aimed at her vital biocomponents. Connor struggled to get back up, but he was too late, he would never be there in time.  
"LET ME GO!!!" Ralph screamed and went in for the kill, but then Eliza snapped back into motion, grabbed the wrist attached to the knife, turned and used Ralph's momentum to throw him over her back onto the ground. He came down with a hard smack. He tried to retaliate, but Eliza quickly crushed his hand with her boot, forcing him to let go of the knife. She took it and aimed it at him. Ralph stayed still on the floor as the two calmed down. Connor then quickly got up and stood behind her.  
"Are you okay?" He asked her.  
"Yeah, nothing's damaged. You?" She returned. Physically, she was fine, but her simulated breathing was loud and erratic like she was panting as she tried to calm down. She seemed confused as well, not knowing what just happened.  
"I'm fine as well," Connor answered. As Ralph's LED returned to blue, he started crying. He sounded like a child. Both Connor and Eliza's attention was pulled away when two police officers barged in to assess the situation. They had heard the screaming. Ralph was quickly cuffed and Eliza handed over the knife as she explained what happened.

A few minutes later, the two androids were back with Hank, to whom they had to explain the situation again.  
"Well, I'm just glad I don't have to do any paperwork for damaged equipment... Or have to explain why I already damaged you." Hank said to Eliza and sighed.  
"No problem?" Eliza replied, unsure if that was a thank you. Hank made an unamused noise.  
"In any case, I have to talk to a few more guys and then we can get the fuck out of here. I'm starving..." Hank stated as he rolled away. Eliza and Connor stayed by the car. Connor then took a second to fully process what had happened with Ralph, how Eliza had been able to fight back and how she herself seemed surprised that she could fight back. He couldn't help but be curious about it.  
"Say, Eliza, can I ask you a question?" Connor started.  
"I don't see why not," Eliza replied.  
"When that android rushed towards you, you were in shock at first and you didn't move at all. Then all of a sudden you seemed to flick a switch and defended yourself perfectly. How come you had such a switch?" Connor asked.  
"Well, I was in shock. I didn't know how to respond, but when he got close, my body suddenly moved on autopilot. I guess some of my old programmings kicked in or something. I haven't had to fight for a while now so I was surprised myself." Eliza explained.  
"It's a good thing you remembered some of your abilities. They could prove to be useful for our next encounters with deviants. We wouldn't have caught this deviant without it and you would probably be in need of repairs." Connor complimented and Eliza gave him a small thankful smile.  
"Still too bad we couldn't find the other deviant," Eliza said. Connor sighed.  
"We were too late. It was here recently, it might've been able to flee because I shouted before I entered the building." Connor said. He frowned a bit. This was the second time he couldn't get a deviant picked up for internal research. Sure, he found another deviant instead, but this one was probably too unstable in general to learn anything about deviancy.  
"It's fine. Maybe we'll find her later." Eliza tried to cheer him up.  
"Maybe..." Connor said as Hank got back to them. They all got into the car and drove off. Hopefully, the next lead was more fruitful...  
[Eliza: +0.5]

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
**Continue to No. 12**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eliza: *takes down Ralph*  
> Connor: Jesus Christ it's Jason Bourne


	9. No. 7: Stay Downstairs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an extremely small chapter, but one large choice leads to another large choice ^^;

"Can you go check it out?" Connor asked Eliza. He wanted to keep this android in check himself. Eliza had made it clear that it wasn't clear how many of her old police abilities she could still use, so he didn't want to depend upon it. Eliza stayed still for a second, hesitating before she sighed and walked upstairs. Connor then continued his search. He noticed that Ralph's stress had gone down a bit when Eliza had gone upstairs, meaning there was probably nothing there. When Connor walked back towards the stairs, his stress spiked again. Connor looked at the stairs and saw there was a space under the stairs, hidden behind a large box. He walked towards it to investigate it.

He saw a head behind the box, looking at him. Connor immediately shot back and started shouting.  
"Eliza, it's he-" Connor tried to shout when Ralph attacked him, keeping a tight grip on him.  
"Run Kara!" Ralph shouted and Connor struggled as he saw the AX400 shoot out of the space behind the box, along with a WY500, and dart towards the exit. Connor tried to pry off Ralph's hands as Eliza came storming down. She wanted to go help him, but there was no time for that.  
"Run after them!" Connor told her. She nodded and ran out the door. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
 **Decide:**

[Struggle] Continue to No. 7  
[Take knife] Continue to No. 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Run Forrest, Run!


	10. No. 8: Struggle

Connor elbowed Ralph and Connor managed to get out of the tight grip and tried to run after Eliza, but Ralph tackled Connor to the ground.  
"No, you can't go after them!" Ralph shouted. Connor now had the chance to elbow his head and hit his scars harshly. Ralph took some damage from it.  
"Get off of me!" Connor shouted as he hit him a couple more times before Ralph moved his hands to protect his head, Connor took his chance, got up and ran after Eliza. 

Back on the street, police officers pointed the way. As Connor ran, he could only just see Eliza as she made a turn into some alleyway. It took Connor an extra two minutes to turn into the same alleyway. It led towards a fence. He found Eliza standing still in the middle of it.  
"Where did it go?" Connor immediately asked as he scanned the area, trying to find it. Eliza flinched and turned towards him. Her LED flashed red before staying yellow. She was stressed.  
"I-I don't know. I followed them into this alleyway and suddenly they were gone!" She explained. It seemed illogical. There were no roads splitting from this alley, just the fence looking over the highway.  
"That's impossible. You could not have lost sight of them." Connor stated as he looked around.  
"I told you, I turned into this alleyway and they were gone!" Eliza repeated herself. Her LED was flashing red again. She must've thought that Connor didn't believe her.  
"I'm not calling you a liar, Eliza. They must be hiding." Connor said as he started looking behind wooden panels and containers.  
"R-right.." Eliza collected herself and started looking around as well, but she seemed terribly distracted. It was likely due to the confusion that she lost them in the first place, but she was barely looking at all. Not that it mattered. It was a small alley with few places to hide. Soon, Connor's eyes landed on a strange looking piece of cloth. It looked like it was draped over something, but he couldn't see what it was hiding. He walked towards it and kneeled down, reaching out to pull it off. When he almost reached it, he could swear he saw it move. Connor then got back up and moved back.  
"Go get the others. It's here." He whispered to Eliza. She nodded and walked out as Connor kept staring at the old cloth. He knew it would be better to wait until Eliza got back with some officers, but he moved towards it again to pull it off. He knew there was something under it, he saw it move again, and he wanted to catch it already. He already lost the first deviant, he wasn't gonna let Amanda down again. He grabbed hold of the fabric and wanted to pull, but the android beneath it suddenly tackled him. She screamed as she jumped up, grabbed Connor by his waist, ran and slammed him against the wall. He made a pained noise as the air was torn from his chest when he slammed against it and his body needed a second to recover.  
"Run, Alice!" The AX400 told the smaller android behind her and grabbed her hand as they started running, but their escape was short lived as they ran into Eliza, who came back running with two officers behind her. The runaway android wanted to push through, but Eliza tackled her and slammed her onto the ground, grabbing her throat and straddling her.  
"Kara!!!" The small one screamed.  
"Run, Alice!" The AX400 shouted as she struggled to get out of Eliza's grip, but there was no way. Eliza's model was simply that much stronger than the simple AX400. The little one protested, but any chance of escape was already gone as the officers held them under shot. The two androids were quickly cuffed and pushed into the police cars to be driven back to the station. Connor was given praise for finding the android while Eliza was given praise for taking it down swiftly. Connor took the praise to heart, but Eliza seemed a bit preoccupied. 

"You two wait by the car, I'm gonna go finish up with these assholes and then we can get the fuck out of here. I'm starving." Hank told the two.  
"But shouldn't we go back to the precinct to interrogate these androids?" Connor asked, a bit confused. He figured the best thing to do right now was to immediately continue the investigation. He had no need for breaks.  
"These bastards are not gonna run away. They'll be right there where we left them when we come back from lunch. I know the two of you don't need food but I do, and I'm the one in command so I say we go for lunch and then we go interrogate them." Hank stated in his usual, unamused and half-annoyed voice. Connor wanted to protest, but Hank already rolled away and he was left with his mouth open.  
"He's right, you know. The androids will still be there." Eliza tried. Connor sighed.  
"That's true, but I just hate unnecessary waiting," Connor replied.  
"Ah, you're built to give an extra ten per cent, huh," Eliza noted.  
"Weren't you?" Connor returned.  
"Yeah, for the standards back then," Eliza explained with a small, smug smile. Connor huffed at the excuse.  
"In any case, I think this will be better. Now the two androids will have some time to calm down before they're put through interrogation." Eliza tried again.  
"That's likely true. If they have some time to assert their situation, their stress levels are less likely to spike." Connor added.  
"Exactly. Let's just go have that lunch and then we'll worry about this interrogation." Eliza said as Hank came back. They quickly got back into Hank's car and drove off.

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
 **Continue to No. 13**


	11. No. 9: Knife

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's kind of a choice within a choice here. The first choice just leads to such small bits of text that I couldn't make them separate chapters.

Connor pried the knife out of Ralph's fingers and quickly stabbed a major thirium vein. Ralph quickly let go with a surprised yelp as he tried to stop the blue liquid from flowing out of him. Connor threw down the knife and quickly analysed the wound he made before he ran after Eliza. Ralph was sure to shut down in 1 minute and 26 seconds.  
[Software instability has gone down by a little] 

He could still see Eliza as he chased after her. She was only about thirty seconds before him, but could barely see the androids they were chasing. He saw her turn into an alleyway and followed soon after, finding Eliza on one side of the fence as the fleeing androids ran away on the other side. Connor cursed internally and ran towards the fence, grabbing hold to start climbing, but Eliza pulled him down.  
"What are you doing?!" She asked him, panicked.  
"I'm going after them!" Connor replied, determined to succeed.  
"What?! You're just gonna get yourself killed!" Eliza shouted, sounding angry.  
"I can't let them get away, I can't fail my mission!" Connor shouted back and tried to climb again, Eliza pulled him back down violently.  
"What's the point?! There'll be more deviants, I doubt they will survive crossing the road anyways!" She argued. Connor growled as he wagered the odds.  
"Hank would never allow me to let you go out there!" She added sternly. Connor tried to ignore her as he tried to decide. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
 **Decide:**

_[Stay]_  
 **[Follow them]**  
\---------------------------------------------------------------

_Connor knew his survival chances were slim, but if there was a chance he could capture them, he would take that chance. He couldn't fail his mission. With that in mind, Connor shrugged off Eliza and started climbing._   
_"Connor, no! It's suicide!" She shouted, but Connor ignored her as he jumped down the fence and ran to the highway. He jumped onto the highway and slowly made his way past the cars zooming past him. He had to be extremely careful, but he was gaining distance on the AX400 and WY500 on the other side of the road and gave a slight, confident smile as he realised he could catch them. However, he lost sight of the cars for a second and was pulled back by the sound of a loud horn. A truck was heading straight towards him. He had no time to think about this, he could either jump to the lane in front of him or the lane behind him. He couldn't see which lane was safe, there was no time left to check._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------_   
**_Decide:_ **

_[Front] Continue to No. 10_   
_[Back] Continue to No. 11_   
_\---------------------------------------------------------------_

 

Connor clenched the fence with his fists and gritted his teeth as he watched the runaway androids slowly cross the busy road, only barely avoiding the cars around them. He had calculated the odds, there was little chance he would survive this, and even if he did, he would still have to run after them. But he knew he should've tried and he could practically feel Amanda's burning stare of shame as he sighed and backed down. Eliza sighed as well as she relaxed and loosened her grip on his jacket. She turned her head and watched with as the two androids reached the other side and ran away.  
"We'll catch the next one. Let's go back." She said in a soft voice and gently tugged him to follow her. In his shame, he silently followed her back. At least Hank seemed somewhat pleased with the fact that he hadn't gone onto the road. Eliza even seemed happy, as far as an android could be happy. Connor stayed silent as they got into the car and drove away for lunch. He felt like a failure...  
[Eliza: +1]  
[Hank: +0.5]  
[Software instability has gone up by a little]

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
 **Continue to No. 12**

 


	12. No. 10: Front

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, another small one, but a significant consequence of the last choice, even if I didn't exactly make it fair by giving no info about the choice. That was kinda the point though :D

Hoping to gain more distance, Connor jumped to the lane in front of him. He felt the graze of the car that had nearly been this model's destroyer. Connor tried to continue with this momentum to reach the middle part of the highway, but all of a sudden he noticed something pushing him. He had a tenth of a second to move his head to the left to notice another car had hit him before he was thrown up into the air and slammed down against the hard, asphalt road, lying on his back. Some of his components had taken critical damage, but he wasn't shutting down just yet as he tried to get up. His head was ringing and somewhere in the background he could hear someone scream his name. He could barely recognise it as Eliza's voice as he managed to prod his back up by leaning on his elbows and saw her try to cross the highway to reach him. He wanted to tell her to stop. He would be able to get a new body, she wouldn't. But before he could, another car came and hit him straight in the back of his head. He barely had time to process what happened before he stopped tumbling across the road and rested on his stomach. Several warnings flashed in his broken vision, his head had practically been torn off and was only just still attached, blue blood spreading over the asphalt. He barely registered an unfamiliar touch gently raise his head before he shut down.  
[Eliza: -0.5]  
[Software instability has gone down by a lot]

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
**Continue to No. 16**


	13. No. 11: Back

Connor almost instinctively stepped back as the car in front of him zoomed past him. He then looked left again and saw he had enough time to avoid the next one. Unfortunately, he then got stuck between the two lanes as a row of cars followed each other closely. When he finally reached the middle part, he saw that the fleeing androids already managed to make it across.  
"Dammit..." He softly cursed and sighed in annoyance as he watched them disappear from his sight. There was no way he could chase them down now. He looked behind him and saw that Eliza had followed him down, standing on the other side of the road, staring at him angrily, but also seeming worried.  
"I told you there was no point in chasing after them!" She shouted at him.  
"I had to try!" Connor shouted back before trying to make it back across. Thankfully, Eliza stayed silent as he focused on the cars rushing past him as he made his way back. He did so without any complications. 

When he got back, Eliza immediately walked over to him and aggressively grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him away from the road.  
"What were you thinking?! You nearly died back there!" Eliza scolded him.  
"I told you, I had to try! There was a chance I could've captured them!" Connor shouted back, trying to get out of her grip.  
"And how small was that chance compared to the chance of you dying?" She asked, tightening her grip, Connor pulled harder and the two were stuck as they pulled each other back and forth.  
"That doesn't matter! I can be replaced with another Connor model. The next one will just download my memory!" Connor told her as he finally pulled himself free from her grip. They stood still as he brushed the sleeve of his jacket to try and remove the wrinkles she caused.  
"And that suddenly justifies you throwing your body into danger? You're not just a damn toy people can replace." She replied. Connor wanted to argue that he was replaceable, but Eliza already turned back around.  
"Whatever, let's just get out of here already." She angrily said and started walking back towards the fence.

Connor then couldn't help but ask about her behaviour. She had been acting strange the moment he met her and he was seriously starting to grow suspicious.  
"And why do you seem to care so much? Why are you even here taking care of people? You were programmed to take down criminals! In fact, your programming is too old to be able to care about more than that!" Connor confronted her as he walked towards her. She immediately stopped and slowly turned around. When she faced him, Connor stopped walking, standing about two feet away. She was staring at him more furiously than he had seen so far in his short existence. He almost thought she would attack him when she stomped back to him. She grabbed him by the collar and yanked him down harshly enough for Connor to believe she had ripped a seam in his shirt. With her face only a few inches away, she talked aggressively through gritted teeth.  
"Listen here, you son of a bitch. I was programmed to take care of my partner and ensure his safety above all else and last time I checked, I am now theoretically Hank's partner, which means YOU are my partner, which means I will do what I can within my boundaries to try and keep your suicidal ass safe. GOT IT?!" She explained and Connor silently nodded. Eliza then let go of him, turning back around again and storming off towards the fence, climbing over it and walking back to the police officers waiting back on the main road, leaving Connor to fix his collar.

Eliza quickly reported what happened to an officer before waiting by the car with her arms crossed. Connor wasn't far behind, watching her stand in silent simulated anger as he reported his side of the story and walked back to Hank.  
"I dunno what you did, but you ticked her off badly," Hank said as he looked at the android leaning against his car.  
"I asked her about her behaviour since it doesn't match the capabilities of her model," Connor told him truthfully. Hank stared at him with disbelief.  
"You really think she hasn't had some software updates since she was released? Shit, even I know androids got regular updates at the time. They weren't as good at programming yet nine years ago. Only now the police androids don't go back to some android workshop to get an update every one or two months." Hank explained. Connor wanted to argue back, but Hank was right. He himself hadn't had a software update ever since he was released about 3 months ago, so he hadn't thought about it. Of course, she wasn't still running on the software she was released with... She wasn't even still walking around with her original biocomponents.  
"Look, I need to finish up here with these guys before we can go. Just stick with me and leave Eliza alone, let her calm down. Surely she'll get over it. She's an android, androids don't hold grudges." Hank said, sounding careless. He was right. To hold grudges, one would need to feel anger. Androids don't feel emotions, they're machines. Indeed, when the two finally walked to her, she had calmed down and helped Hank into the car in silence before getting in herself. She didn't show any signs of anger when the three drove away.  
[Eliza: -1]

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
**Continue to No. 12**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I try to post chapters in bunches so every storyline can continue at the same pace. This is the last one before the next bunch. I hope you guys are enjoying it so far. Now that Eliza is actually showing a bit of input, it's becoming more fun for me to write :)
> 
> Please leave a comment if you have any tips or fixes!  
> (Or yk, to give praise c: )


End file.
